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Jesus is Alive Right Now

April 16, 2013 in Blog, Children's Ministry, From Our Staff with 0 Comments

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KIDMO is several weeks into our new series called Jesus Is Alive Right Now! We are learning about the resurrection and all the things that Jesus is because He is alive!  We are going to be discovering His protection, love, friendship, and forgiveness all month long!  Our big kick off on Easter Sunday was all about really getting the kids thinking about what Jesus is doing in their lives right now.  After learning about the resurrection we watched a few testimonies of Jesus doing big things in the lives of kids their age. We then gave the kids a chance to write down what Jesus is to them on a red paper heart. We placed the hearts on a board that represented the empty tomb. It was truly incredible what happened next, as the hearts went up the testimonies came out! The kids of Open Door came to life!! I called on kid after kid as they opened up and shared who Jesus is to them and what He does for them. The smiles, passion, and love filled the room and inspired every heart! This month we want to partner up with the families as we talk about how Jesus is alive and working! We want to encourage you for this month to pick a time once a week to sit down and share with each other what Jesus did in your life that week! These small meetings are a incredible way to encourage your KIDMO kids in their growing faith and love for Jesus!

You can follow KIDMO for updates and insight on what’s going on in our children’s ministries!

Twitter: @KIDMOkids

Instagram: KIDMOkids

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Megan Pulaski
Children’s Director

6 Things You Need to Know

November 7, 2012 in Children's Ministry, Community Outreach, Four18 Students, From Aaron Kennedy, Message Series with 1 Comment

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I just wanted to take a moment and update you on a few things coming up so that you can help us pray as we continue to seek what God has for us as a church! As always we are praying for you and are so blessed to have you as a part of the Open Door family!!

1. I’m so excited for what God is doing in our student ministry! We are literally seeing teenagers come to know Christ weekly in Four18! Our attendance has grown to average around 70 students or more, and we are continuing to see growth. We already updated the room earlier this year and we just ordered more chairs and we are still running out of room! To help, we are getting ready to expand space again by ripping down more walls upstairs which will provide more space for our Students and our After School program that meets during the week which has now grown to around 50 children each day!

2. In addition to our students, our Children’s Ministry has launched our new 4 & 5 year old ministry Kidmo Jr. This has been a huge win; and parents have responded as we continue to see tremendous growth in that age range. Thanks for answering the call, and helping us reach more children than ever!!! We are so blessed by the incredible volunteers that serve throughout the month!

3. Please be praying for our Senior Pastor, Greg Kennedy, as he is in Latvia over the next two weeks speaking into pastors and spiritual leaders in that country. Pray for protection over him in his travels and strength as he will be teaching over 20 times in the next few weeks. God is continuing to grow our influence to the nations and we are so excited to see what God continues to do as we change the world for the kingdom of God!

4. One of the most important times of year is upcoming as our City Outreach Day is right around the corner on November 17. Because of how many we have had answer the call in the last few years we have expanded what we normally do in the Fall, and we need your help!! We still have some openings to fill for this year’s Outreach Day. We are also collecting food all month long. Please consider bringing some needed items with you throughout this month. Click here to get more information about all the different events your family can participate in to reach our community and show love and compassion to them this Holiday season!

5. Our Christmas service is going to be held on December 23rd and we are so excited about what we have planned for this service and the opportunity we will have to reach tons of unchurched people that day. Please be in prayer for that day and we are asking you to ask people to attend! This is a great opportunity to invite someone to church and believe God to impact their lives. We will be releasing invite cards to help you as the date approaches!

6. We are currently in a VERY IMPORTANT series on family and relationships called Worth Fighting For.  Please be praying for me as we continue in the series over the next few weeks and make plans to be here if at all possible. I believe this is an important time in our families in which God wants to grow us closer to each other by growing us closer to Him. If you missed last Sunday’s service, you can check it out by clicking here.

Thank you for all the sacrifices you make for the kingdom of God. Open Door is blessed because of you and your love for the King we all serve…. it is only getting better and may Christ receive all the glory!!

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Aaron Kennedy
Executive Pastor

Got Rhythm?

September 5, 2012 in Blog, Children's Ministry, Community Outreach, Four18 Students, From Our Staff with 0 Comments

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Our Family Ministries Department is growing and we have rhythm! Rhythm is defined as a movement or procedure with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat or accent. Who doesn’t love a good beat? Since the beginning of summer, we have been seeing a steady flow of God and a rhythm in our children’s ministries and student ministries.

We had a great response for the book bag community outreach. We were able to service families here and give to Hope of Glory Ministries, one of our Community Outreach Partners, to help service those in need.

On September 2, our children’s ministries launched Kidmo Junior. We are excited to be able to minister to our four and five year olds in their own setting, with worship, word, and tons of fun! For more information or how you can serve, contact our children’s director, meganpulaski@go2odm.com. We’ve also got an exciting event for families right around the corner: Kidmo Primetime! It’s an event for kids (ages 4-5th Grade) and their parents and families on September 23 at 6pm. Check out more information by clicking here.

After our summer student ministries camp, Overflow, our student department has been experiencing growth, which is producing a rhythm amongst us! Relationships are forming and our students are flowing in that rhythm as we provide opportunities for them to worship, connect, and serve! To continue the rhythm, this Friday the 7th at 7:30pm is the Genesis at Open Door. Students and parents will come together at the Genesis to hear our hearts, to see how Four18 works and what’s ahead for your families as we partner together in the growth of the next generation. Details on the event can be found on our website here or by contacting our student director, tylerbraden@go2odm.com.

Another opportunity for families we are excited to announce is our Fall Festival on October 31! More details will be available soon, but you don’t want to miss this evening of food, fun, and worship with our Worship Team and our special guest, Michael Taylor. We are amping up the food, increasing the games and ending the evening with PRAISE!

We want to give our families as many opportunities to worship, connect, serve, and give together. Our hopes are that you will be able to continue the flow of rhythm within your home. If Sunday worship is the only constant rhythm we experience, then we will be offbeat during the week!

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Gina Robinson
Family Ministries Director

Contentment

August 3, 2012 in Blog, Children's Ministry, From Our Staff with 1 Comment

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Philippians 4:11-12 “ I have learned to be content no matter what happens to me. I know what it’s like not to have what I need. I also know what it’s like to have more than I need. I have learned the secret of being content no matter what happens”

What up KIDMO Nation! We are gearing up for a new virtue in the month of August: “Contentment”. It has really got me thinking. What it means, how you get it, and if I really am content in all that I have?

Everyone likes to mix things up, that’s how we stay fresh. Summer comes and we want summer clothing, fresh shades, and a haircut/color. The new iPhone 5 drops and suddenly it’s time to mix things up, because the iPhone 4S is just not fresh anymore. We have a desire to keep the small things fresh, but has that desire rooted deeper than our phone or hair?

A resent survey done by Mercer, an outplacement and consulting firm, found that nearly one in three American workers are seriously considering leaving their job. Another recent survey done by the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology found that 50% of first marriages, 67% of second, and 74% of third marriages end in divorce. Safe to say that the desire to keep things “fresh” has taken root way past our hair or phone. The problem lies in our understanding of contentment. Because contentment does not produce personal happiness, it produces joy. Contentment is a demonstration of our daily trust in God. Contentment is a decision to trust not only in His plan but also His timing. Contentment allows us to focus on what God is doing in and around us right now. It also allows others to see the JOY that is found when your focus is on Him. A JOY that surpasses understanding. God sent His Son not to give us fleeting happiness but to give us the choice to trust Him and allow His radiating Joy to shine in our lives! I want to challenge you, as I challenge myself, to step back and ask yourself…

Where am I not choosing contentment?

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Megan Pulaski
Children’s Director

Out with the Old in with the New

June 21, 2012 in Blog, Children's Ministry, From Our Staff with 0 Comments

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We are excited to announce that KIDMO Sunday take homes are no more! Instead, we are now sending out a parent email each week. This email includes what we are going to be talking about that upcoming Sunday, announcements, family conversation starters, and fun interactive activities for the family to participate in.

These parent emails allow KIDMO and their parents to team up to more effectively teach God’s virtues. That’s why we are so excited about this new feature! We know that there is nothing better than family and church coming together with one heart to teach, inspire, love, and also to have some fun!

Thank you for giving KIDMO the opportunity to be your family’s biggest cheerleader!

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Megan Pulaski
Children’s Director

Kidmo Outreach Reminder

May 24, 2012 in Blog, Children's Ministry with 0 Comments

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Hey KIDMO kids and parents, hope you guys are nickel and diming because we only have 10 more days left to fill our rice bowls!

Below are some creative ideas on ways that you can raise money. If you were unable to attend KIDMO Primetime on May 6th, where we announced our first ever KIDMO Outreach Project, it’s not too late to participate.

Grab any bowl or cup around your house and start filling it up, then bring all collected change to KIDMO on June 3rd. All money goes to the Rice Bowl organization to fight hunger in orphanages around the world. Check it out at www.ricebowls.org.

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Kidmo Outreach

May 10, 2012 in Blog, Children's Ministry with 2 Comments

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The first ever KIDMO Outreach project started this past Sunday at Primetime!

We are filling up rice bowls over the next three weeks in order to help feed orphaned children around the world!

Check it out at www.ricebowls.org

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Coaching

May 9, 2012 in Blog, Children's Ministry, Four18 Students, From Our Staff with 5 Comments

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In January of this year, I took the position as Director of Family Ministries at Open Door. My responsibilities are to lead and guide the directors of our children and student ministries. I see myself much like a coach of an athletic team. My heart is to coach beyond my capacity. In other words, I want to lead and guide by faith and believe for the impossible through God. A good friend of mine, who is a coach and former college athlete said, “A coach is someone who takes you to a place or a goal that you could have never attained on your own.” This statement rings true throughout God’s word. He used many coaches and team members to build and grow His kingdom.

Even today, we must wake up and make a decision to continue to build God’s kingdom through widening our influences. We weren’t meant to do life alone or just with our immediate family. Our children, and us included, need mentors and coaches in our lives that will help lead and guide our hearts to our heavenly Father. Regardless of your stage of parenting, I can promise you one thing: a time will come when you and your children will need another adult in their lives besides you.

Here’s a piece of research I read from Parenting Beyond Capacity, by Reggie Joiner and Carey Niieuwhof: Teens who had at least one adult from church make a significant time investment in their lives were more likely to keep attending church. More of those stayed in church, by a margin of 46 percent to 28 percent, when five or more adults at church had invested time with them personally and spiritually.

I encourage you as a family of Open Door Ministries to read Deuteronomy 6. Moses was speaking to a community of people, not just to one family. The circle of influence in the Hebrew culture could be comprised of as many as eighty people. I am a product of many adults who took the time to widen their circles and invite me into a safe place where another trusted adult could have a meaningful relationship with me. Whether your child is three or thirteen, we want to partner with you in nurturing the hearts of your children at all stages of their lives. Whether it is participating in our children and student ministries or even joining a Life Group, come join us and be blessed beyond capacity.

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. – John 10:10

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Gina Robinson
Family Ministries Director

Creating Something Amazing

November 3, 2011 in Children's Ministry, Creativity, From Our Staff with 0 Comments

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” - Ephesians 2:10 

For the past four weeks the KIDMO team has been sharing with the kids of Open Door about God’s creativity. This is truly one of my favorite things about God, and it has been an amazing four weeks! Four kids have gotten saved and eight kids have expressed a desire to get baptized! We have not just learned about God’s creativity but have gotten to see how it works in our every day lives, and in God’s bigger picture!

This past Sunday we ended our creativity series upstairs. As we closed out this series I am reminded of my senior year in college that I lived in a little apartment with my older sister, Amber. It was a small two-story apartment that was longer than it was wide. As soon as you walked in you were standing in the living room, which was open to the kitchen, and the stairs leading up to our bedrooms were right in front of you. When it came to explaining our décor in this apartment we fully embraced the phrase “broke college students”! It mostly consisted of friend’s furniture that we happened to end up with, and our sheet white walls were covered with posters. However, one of those posters always stood out to us among the rest. It was a photographic mosaic of a laughing Bob Marley hanging above our kitchen table. A photographic mosaic is where lots of smaller pictures make up a larger picture, that is only seen when you take a few steps back.  This poster was one of our favorite things for two reasons. We loved how in the poster Bob is smiling so big that his eyes are nearly shut.  He just looked so incredibly happy. Even though in reality I’m sure the reason for him smiling so big was not because he was so happy. We also loved this poster because of the simple concept of smaller pictures that can all stand alone but are creatively apart of something bigger. The shading and coloring of these pictures line up perfectly so that when you stand back you see the bigger picture. It’s nothing short of awesome!

Looking back years later, I think about how the concept is just like how God works creatively in the Church as a whole. We all individually make up our own picture. Maybe your picture would include family, friends, your love for the Lord, serving, your work, or maybe school.  What makes up your picture–the shading and coloring–matters.  God takes these pictures and creatively places them one by one together, each one as important as the next, to create something amazing: the Church of God. So that when people that are not yet apart of it take a look at the picture from a few steps back they don’t see Bob, they see the face of God. A God that is not just truly happy but truly joyful, filled with a love like no other, overflowing with compassion, and offering grace.  Our awesome God not only has a creative plan for our individual lives but for us as a church. I am so excited to be apart of it!

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Megan Pulaski

Integrity: Caught not Taught

June 22, 2011 in Children's Ministry, From Deana Kennedy, Message Series with 1 Comment

This past Sunday we started our new series, ‘Remnant Generation’.  One of the key points Pastor A made was that someone is always watching, meaning of course, our children and followers.  As a mature parent (who is too immature to classify myself as older, LOL!)  Anyway, as a mature parent, I’m often asked about character development in children, most often in the context of when, where and how to teach them character.  The answer is the simplest in the world…really it is…the answer is as natural as breathing in and breathing out…in fact that’s how it’s done. Character is caught not taught; with every breath we breathe we’re teaching character to those precious eyes and ears.  Every roll of our eyes, every sigh, every curt word, every slight of hand, every glance, purchase and exchange.  And every prayer we pray, every smile we give, every door we open/close, the care of our home, lawn, business and the blessing on our lips toward our spouse, parents and friends.   It’s happening when we spot the police officer, observe the umpire/coach, and comment on our child’s teacher, friends and friend’s parents. It’s in the way we approach problems, challenges and decision. All the things we do without thinking, as easy as breathing in and breathing out.  Matthew 12:34 tell us that whatever is in our heart determines what you say (and body language is a huge part of what we say).

A couple weeks ago, as the school year was winding down, I became aware of the story I’m about to share from our ODM family.  In deference to their humility, I’m withholding the names but feel free to say that this is a real family that lives real lives in the real world…with young eyes watching:  Their son had done excellent in school all year.  In fact he had made straight A’s all year with the exception of the last period when he earned an 89 in math (one point away from an A).  The expectations of his parents are high and they know the student could have earned an A during this marking period as well.  There are two academic awards at his school (Headmaster’s List=all A’s; Honor Roll=A’s and B’s); the office made a mistake and awarded the student the Headmaster’s List during the Award’s Ceremony.  At the end of the ceremony, the student returned the certificate to his parents and pointed out that the award was not his.  Honestly, the student could have walked away that evening and never mentioned a word; it’s doubtful that the school or the parents would have caught the mistake.  But at a mere 11 years old, he chose not to take credit for something that he’d not earned.  Later that day his Dad, chocked and teary, was able to tell his son that the integrity he’d shown made them more proud than any A he could have earned.   I can tell you, long before that day, my young friend had caught something that will serve him well all the days of his life.

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Deana

 

 

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